Josephus of Arimathea

Josephus, also called Josephe or Josephes, is the son of Joseph of Arimathea and an early keeper of the Holy Grail in some tellings of the Arthurian legend. He makes appearances in the Quest del Saint Graal section of the Lancelot-Grail cycle, but his story is fully told in the Estoire del Saint Grail (History of the Holy Grail), a prequel section written somewhat later. In the Estoire he is invested as bishop by an apparition of Jesus with the implication that he was the first to receive his orders. Josephus is considered the primary holy man of the group, which is in contrast with the Lancelot-Grail's major source, Robert de Boron's Joseph d'Arimathie, in which his father is the undisputed leader. This is likely due to the authors' assertion that various great families are descended from Joseph; his virtuous son remains chaste and has no children.

When Joseph's followers reach Britain Josephus becomes the island's spiritual leader while his brother Galahad (ancestor to the more famous knight Galahad) takes charge of the secular duties. Before he dies Josephus passes the Grail to his nephew Alan and announces the quest for the object that will eventually preoccupy King Arthur and his court.

Josephus

Titus Flavius Josephus (/dʒoʊˈsiːfəs/; 37 – c. 100), born Joseph ben Matityahu (Hebrew: יוסף בן מתתיהו, Yosef ben Matityahu), was a first-century Romano-Jewish scholar, historian and hagiographer, who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.

He initially fought against the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War as head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 CE to Roman forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Jotapata. Josephus claimed the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Roman-Jewish War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. In response Vespasian decided to keep Josephus as a slave and interpreter. After Vespasian became Emperor in 69 CE, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperor's family name of Flavius.

Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship. He became an advisor and friend of Vespasian's son Titus, serving as his translator when Titus led the Siege of Jerusalem, which resulted—when the Jewish revolt did not surrender—in the city's destruction and the looting and destruction of Herod's Temple (Second Temple).

Josephus (disambiguation)

Josephus (37 – c. 100) was a Roman Jewish historian.

Josephus may refer to:

People:

Fictional characters:

Josephus (grandfather of Josephus)

Josephus (Greek: Ἰώσηπος; flourished 1st century BC and 1st century, born about 30 BC) was an ethnic Jew living in Jerusalem.

Josephus was the son born to Matthias Curtus and his unnamed Jewish wife. He came from a wealthy family and through his father he descended from the priestly order of the Jehoiarib, which was the first of the twenty four-orders of Priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. His paternal grandparents were Matthias Ephlias and the daughter of the High Priest Jonathon. Jonathon may have been Alexander Jannaeus, the High Priest and Hasmonean ruler who governed Judea from 103 BC-76 BC.

He was a contemporary to the King Herod the Great and the Herodian Dynasty governing Judea and the surrounding territories. Josephus followed his paternal ancestors and served as a Priest in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Josephus married an unnamed Jewish noblewoman. The wife of Josephus was a distant paternal relative of his, as she was a descendant of his paternal great-grandfather Simon Psellus. His wife bore him a son, Matthias. Through his son, he would be the paternal grandfather of the Roman Jewish Historian of the 1st century, Flavius Josephus.